I
recently read a piece from Jim Cooper's book Down on the Island. The selection
I wish to discuss comes from chapter 7 of his book which is appropriately named
"Teaching English". In this chapter the author narrates his experience as a
teacher at the University of Puerto Rico, at Mayaguez campus, which was and is
still one or the largest in Puerto Rico. It takes place during the 1950's, when
Puerto Rico was still building and developing their program of education. He takes
the time to point out and discuss the problems that both professors and
students faced.
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| University of Puerto Rico , Mayaguez campus (Logo) |
The
1950's where a time of political change for Puerto Rico since there were many
movements going, for example, in 1950 it Puerto Rico receive authorization
under legislation to have their own constitutional convention and in 1952 the
island became United States' Commonwealth territory ( Associated Free State of
Puerto Rico).All this political activity lead to the rapid growth in the local
economy and structure in general.
Upon
arrival one of Cooper first experiences was teaching English at the "Colegio", name
given to the University of Puerto Rico (Mayaguez). As a first time teacher he
was concerned with simply giving the class but he then notices there was much
more he had not taken into consideration. Most of his students knew little to
no English at all. The ones who actually knew English where the students who came from private
schools and hence where thought regularly and strictly in English. This made
his task much more complicated. When he
tried to discuss these problems with superiors, he was told "the only way
to learn a language is to love its literature", but how can one love
literature without understanding it?
"This
was common believe held by people who assumed a student
on the
university level had been taught at least Latin and probably one
or two modern
languages in high school..." -Jim Cooper
Cooper
went on teaching and doing everything possible to help the system. When picked
to serve as "chairman of Syllabus discussion Committee" he, along
with the support of some other professors was able to change the books, and the
approach in order to make it easier for students. Still, professors were struggling
with the approach and techniques and students where dragging lack education and
structure which was supposed to be given to them in school. Even after all the effort there was still
much to overcome.
“It was clear
that no matter what we tried to do,
it was not going to help much in solving the
overall problem of English learning in Puerto
Rico.” – Jim Cooper
I
do not believe that all that effort did nothing to help in solving the problems
Puerto Rico's education was facing, but I do understand the frustration he must
have felt. Like all issues regarding a territory there is never much a single
man can do, this is why it requires dedication from the general community. Jim
Cooper may have not changed "The System" himself, but he was one of the many people that helped
by being concerned citizens and professionals with a real interest in
educating. This journey to get Puerto
Rico's education system to where it
stands today was a long one, but it is responsible for making bilingualism part
of our national identity.
Overall, this post talks about the struggles that English teachers faced in the 1950's because of the lack of proper education to the students in this language. This is just one example of the people that, like you said, actually cared about education, and we thank him, because he was part of that group of people that helped improve education as the years passed.
ReplyDeleteI also did not agree with that quote he stated: “It was clear that no matter what we tried to do, it was not going to help much in solving the overall problem of English learning in Puerto Rico.” No matter how small, every effort counts! And after all, I believe he did help Puerto Rico and its people in some way!
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